Locking or unlocking means for emergency exit-doors.



No. 634,82I.

Patented Oct. [0, I899. T. E. mawm.

LOCKING 0B UNLOGKINB MEANS FOR EMERGENCY EXIT DOORS.

(Application med m in, 1899.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

THOMAS EV E-RITT HEWITT, OF LONDON, EJK GLAND.

"LOCKING-0R UNLOCVKIING MEAll FOQRYEMIERGENCY EXlT DOO RS.

SPECIFICATION formingpartof Letters ra a no. 634,821, dated October 10,1899."

A Application filedMay 26, 1899- Sarial No. 718,360; (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: g 7

Be it known that I, THOMAS EVERITT H EW- 1T1, lampmanufacturerya resident of 115 Newington Causeway, London, S. E., England,'have invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Looking or Unlocking Emergency Exit-Doors, (for which an application for patent has been filed in Great Britain, dated November25,1898, No. 24,940,) of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to means of securing and releasing the emergency exit-doors of public buildings, and has for its object toenable the door to be bolted both at top and bottom and yet to be instantly and automatically unfastened in case of emergency or panic not Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

' wherein I have illustrated the invention. as

applied to a pair of doors opening outward, it being understood that the mechanism would be exactly the same for a single door and that in the case of double swing-doors each leaf or door would be provided with a'similar set of rabbeted edge of the door A, to which alone in.

the present example the fastener is applied. The said fastener comprisesa bolt B, fitted to rise through the floor just inside of the sill of the doorway and adapted to enter a socket C, fixed to, the door A, the bolt in'so rising raising another bolt D, extending the whole height of the door andfitted to work, prefer? ably, in a continuous tubular guide-socket ex tending the whole height of the door, the

lower end of said tube forming the socket in j the usual space H below the floor inside the threshold of the door, the tail end of the lever having attached a counterweight G, sufiicient to overcome the gravity of the bolts 13 and D and of the flap hereinafter referred to and to raise the bolts into engagement with the respective sockets or staples Oand E. The unfastening of the said bolts in case of emergency is eifected by the depression, under the j tread of the person or persons seeking exit, of

a hinged flap I, let into the floor and covering the space H, in'which the mechanism is contained. This flap extends the full wid th of the doorway and'is of such breadth as to insure it cominginto action before the person seeking exit can bring pressure to bear against the door. It is hinged at '11 and rests by its free edge upon' a vertically-sliding thrust-rod F,

suitably guided and whose lower end rests upon the arm of the lever F, or instead of a separate thrust-rod the flap may rest directly (or through a friction-roller) upon an upwardly-projecting arm in one with the lever F. In either case the efiective radius at which the pressure upon the flap I is brought to bear upon the lever F is. such that the counterweight will be thereby-immediately overcome, and the bolt B will be drawn down, while the bolt D descends by its own weight, thus permitting the door to fly open when pressed against from .th'elinside; The. bolt 15 When thus drawn down is retained in theretracted position (so long as the door remains open) by the engagement with the lower head 11' of the bolt B of a detent K, which is pivoted at and is pressed into engagement with the head I) by a weighted arm K immediately the bolt B is lowered.

In order to permit the bolts B and D to be thrown into the locked position-by the act of closing the door, a trigger L' is mounted on the end of a sliding rod or link Z in position to project upward through a slot in the doorsill or just at the inner side thereof, so as to be acted on by an abutment near the heel of the door A just before the door reaches its completely-closed position. This link Z is connected to the detent-K, so that when the trigger is acted on the detent will be disengaged from the bolt B, and the two bolts B and D will then be shot by the action of the weighted lever F immediately the door is quite closed. In order to render the bolts inoperative, if desired, the abutment by which the trigger L is so acted on may be a bolt M or other movable device accessible to the doorkeeper and capable of being set for acting on the trigger, as described, or of being raised or moved out of operative position, so as to permit of the door being closed without the trigger being acted on. The trigger instead of being mounted so as to slide may be a lever pivoted in position to project up through the slot, so as to be acted on in the way described in respect of the sliding trigger L, the link Z being in that case connected to the detent K at the opposite side of the pivotal center of the latter, so as to retract it by a thrust instead of by a pull, as described.

The flap I will normally be raised at its free edge above the floor-level, and its depression will be limited byfixed stops 1, by which the flap will be supported at about the floorlevel when depressed under the weight of persons treading upon it. In order to prevent the flap being raised by unauthorized persons, a stop is fixed to the door-jamb, as at N.

It is preferred that all the parts of the mechanism contained in the space II should be mounted in a box-shaped casting, so as to enable it to be readily placed in operative position. The fiapl is preferably placed within the embrasure R of the doorway at the end of a corridor or in any other situation Where it is not liable to he accidentally trodden on by persons walking about within the building; but in order to guard against the door or doors swinging open if the flap beso accidentally depressed aspring-pressed ball-latch may be provided, so as to keep the door in V the closed position unless actually pressed against from the inside, the ball-latch being capable of yielding under slight pressure.

To enable the door to be unbolted from the outside, the bolt D may be provided with a handle P, (shown in Fig. 2,) which extends through a vertical slot 1) in the door A to the outside and is inclosed Within a hinged cover Q, secured by a padlock or otherwise, so that access can only be had to the handle P by first unlocking the cover. The handle playing in the slot p serves to limit the range of motion of the bolt D and prevents it falling out of its guide-socket when the door is opened.

It is to be understood that although I have described and prefer to employ weights for adapted to rise from below the floor and to enter a staple or socket on the door, means tending to automatically raise said bolt into engagement with the door, and a hinged flap or platform adapted to be'depressed by the tread of a person upon it and to thereby disengage said bolt from the door, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a bolt adapted when raised to enter a staple or socket on a door, of a second bolt in alinement with, and adapted to be raised by, the first-mentioned bolt so as to enter a socket or staple above the door, and means tending to automatically raise both of said bolts into the locked positions, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a door, of a bolt adapted to rise from below the floor and to enter a staple or socket on the door, a second bolt in alinement with, and adapted to be raised.by, the first-mentioned bolt so as to enter a socket or staple above the door, and

a counterweighted lever mounted in the space below the floor and coupled with the said first-mentioned bolt, the action of the counterweight tending to raise both of said'bolts into locked position, substantially as specified.

a. The combination with a door, of bolt adapted to rise from below the floor and to enter a staple or socket on the door, asecond bolt adapted to be raised by the first-mentioned bolt, so as to be thereby caused to engage in a staple or socket above the door, a counterweighted lever coupled with the said first-mentioned bolt so as to tend to raise both bolts, and a hinged platform or flap resting upon the counterweighted lever so as when depressed to cause the lever-arm coupled to the bolt to be depressed and the bolts to be retracted, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with a door, of a bolt adapted to rise from below the floor and to enter a staple or socket on the door, a second bolt adapted to be raised by the first-mew tioned bolt and to engage in astaple or socket above the door, a counterweighted lever coupled with the said first-mentioned bolt so as to tend to raise the bolts, a platform resting on the said lever, and a detent adapted to retain the first-mentioned b'olt when the same is retracted by the depression of the platform, substantially. as specified.

6. The combination with a door, of a bolt adapted to rise from below the floor and to enter a staple or socket on the door, a second bolt adapted to be raised by the, first-mentioned bolt and to engage in a staple or socket above the door, a counterweighted lever coupled with the said first-mentioned bolt so as to tend to raise the same, a hinged platform or flap resting upon the counterweighted lejecting in position to be acted on by an abutment on the door, so as by the closing move- V61 so aswhen depressed to cause the said engagement with the staple on the door, subboit to be retractedm detent adapted to 10- I stantiefly as specified. 1o tain the said bolt in the retracted position, Signed by the said THOMAS EVERITT HEW- and a, trigger coupledto the deient and pro- ITT this 15thday of May, 1899.

I THOMAS EVERITT HEWITT. In presence ofment of the door to cause the detentto'be T. W". KENNARI disengaged and permit the bolt to rise into O. G. CLARK. 

